I’m new here, and already I’m conflicted between a desire to keep obscure sites I know about secret and a desire to show off my finds. Doesn't urbex run the risk of sabotaging itself by making all this information available? I get that people aren't sharing exact locations, but it's usually not that hard to figure out a location from the information in a thread. Wouldn't it be better to stay more secretive and underground? What motivates people to share their explores other than narcissism and ego? Just curious what experienced urbexers think about these questions.

The longer I do this the less impressed I am with what people post, and am more impressed with what I know they've done but have held off on. You're absolutely right that posting things at all brings unneeded attention to them. No form of secrecy beats simply not talking about things.

I think there is a way to share some of your work without blowing up the spots.

The more you have an audience, the more you need to be carefull, that's for sure.

Posting on old forums like here is probably the best place but people don't get all the attention theyd get vs social media so it's probably why most everyone has left.

I'm in the mentality to not share too much or at all for certain locations but it's a position that sucks because i spend basically my life shooting hundreds of photos of those places and taking risks... then i have to keep them almost forever in my computer.
That's the price we pay so those places stay unviolated.

But one thing i've seen in the 15 years i've been doing this hobby is almost every place will end up trashed/looted/tagged or demolished/converted one day anyway.
Very rare spots will end up fixed or turned into a museum etc.

Because of that i have decided that i would post pictures... but with certain rules like no exteriors, no real names, no signs or text that you can search from etc.
It's case per case mostly.
And whatever you decide, even if you think you did good, some people will still be mad...so don't take this so seriously.

Basically it's against your own values to determine what you want to share.

And yes, of course a lot is ego and narcissism, that's the whole new explorer generation mentality, but there is also that you can be proud of what you've done but that's a 2 sided knife that you need to play careful with.

For sure you can help the spots not to get fucked, but nobody can do anything to control what everyone else will do and what will ultimately happen with them.


Sometime it's hard to put that much effort to hide a spot then you have dozens of morons on instagram that post pictures and stories of it...making you question why you are putting this effort when other people are gaining from it (because a lot will monetize it) when you are in the dark, unknown to anyone, yet you've done some of the best stuff around.


That's definitely not an easy game.

Good luck!

There's no one size fits all way to handle a topic like this- it's very much a case by case basis and there's a lot to consider. The two big considerations are "how much damage will publicity cause to this spot" and "how likely is it that drawing attention to this place will get it sealed?"

Generally speaking, your best bet is to take some common-sense precautions. Scrub your metadata before sharing photos, blur out identifying details such as street signs, addresses, names, and other writing that could identify a spot. Be careful with exterior shots, especially ones that may feature prominent landmarks in the background. Don't name drop spots online, don't geotag spots, and don't give out information to those you don't know you can trust.

There will be extremes in either direction, of course. You'll find some spots that are so blown out that you could geotag it on Instagram and cause less damage than the local teenagers cause with their weekly parties. Other spots will be so sensitive that you might sit on your photos until that spot gets demolished. But most locations fall somewhere in the middle.

There's plenty of room for nuance too. For example, I can get away with posting tell-all write ups of near-pristine spots I find deep in the Rocky Mountains because they're so remote that the sheer distances involved shield them from any vandals, scrappers, or authorities. But I wouldn't dare do that for similar locations in more densely populated regions back east. Likewise, I can post that kind of thing to UER because only urbex enthusiasts for the most part end up here, whereas Instagram and Youtube are more likely to reach the eyes of the general public and all the trouble that entails.

I personally share many spots because a big part of exploring for me is the art and photography aspect, as well as uncovering history. To that end, I share my stuff online to engage in that aspect of the community. But I also make sure to censor identifying information and sometimes sit on spots for a while before posting to make them more difficult to track down for casual troublemakers- and some I've never posted because any attention would be too risky. It's not black and white, and with experience you'll find a way to walk that tightrope without falling too far to either side.

There's definitely a lot more people now than there were before. I feel like 10 to 15 years ago a spot could stay fairly pristine or untouched for years, even with explorers posting on it, before it went downhill. Now you're lucky to see something last beyond a year once it hits flavor of the month status. There was somewhat of a code to exploring that involved keeping places from being locked up or destroyed but there are way too many now that could care less for it to have as much of an impact as it used to. In fact you're openly mocked for having those standards. The only real way to keep something protected is to not post and, even then, you're hoping the thousands of others don't randomly wander upon it. Plus you're giving up the experience of sharing your art and what you found.

So I would advise judging each location on its own. If it's something already well known, well, you can be a bit more free. If it's something that a few others have been and you want to slow down the rate of destruction, don't post outside, carefully go through each photo for any identifying clues, don't post it with other photos from the same area, maybe wait a while until posting, don't post on facebook pages where some random guy who lives next to it will feel the need to share the address, check each shot with google lens to see if it easily identifies it, etc.
If it's something amazing, then just sit on it and hope any others that eventually find it have the same mentality as you. It can happen. I've seen some pretty amazing places stay pristine until they're either fixed up, restored, or converted into another use. It's a lot of work and can feel like a small drop in the ocean compared to the overall rush to instant gratification you'll see online. But, to me, it's worth sticking to my principals and preserving these spots for other responsible people to have the same experience. I feel like society needs for there to be ruins of the past to interact with and if we can contribute to them being untouched by graffiti, scrappers, thieves, or random destruction, it's worth the effort.

Posted by Cross- There's definitely a lot more people now than there were before. I feel like 10 to 15 years ago a spot could stay fairly pristine or untouched for years, even with explorers posting on it, before it went downhill. Now you're lucky to see something last beyond a year once it hits flavor of the month status. There was somewhat of a code to exploring that involved keeping places from being locked up or destroyed but there are way too many now that could care less for it to have as much of an impact as it used to. In fact you're openly mocked for having those standards. The only real way to keep something protected is to not post and, even then, you're hoping the thousands of others don't randomly wander upon it. Plus you're giving up the experience of sharing your art and what you found. So I would advise judging each location on its own. If it's something already well known, well, you can be a bit more free. If it's something that a few others have been and you want to slow down the rate of destruction, don't post outside, carefully go through each photo for any identifying clues, don't post it with other photos from the same area, maybe wait a while until posting, don't post on facebook pages where some random guy who lives next to it will feel the need to share the address, check each shot with google lens to see if it easily identifies it, etc. If it's something amazing, then just sit on it and hope any others that eventually find it have the same mentality as you. It can happen. I've seen some pretty amazing places stay pristine until they're either fixed up, restored, or converted into another use. It's a lot of work and can feel like a small drop in the ocean compared to the overall rush to instant gratification you'll see online. But, to me, it's worth sticking to my principals and preserving these spots for other responsible people to have the same experience. I feel like society needs for there to be ruins of the past to interact with and if we can contribute to them being untouched by graffiti, scrappers, thieves, or random destruction, it's worth the effort.

I agree, but it calls into question the purpose of a site like this. Why share sites at all, if they run the risk of becoming over-exposed? Social media is like the Eye of Sauron: once it becomes aware of something, it opens the door to an orc invasion. Maybe urbex should be more like a secret society that doesn't seek attention or share information with outsiders at all. To continue the Lord of the Rings analogy, maybe urbexers should operate more like the Rangers of the North. Seems like the only way to prevent all the social media hustlers, who no doubt scan sites like for places to exploit, from ruining the hobby.

Posted by Shaddo I agree, but it calls into question the purpose of a site like this. Why share sites at all, if they run the risk of becoming over-exposed? Social media is like the Eye of Sauron: once it becomes aware of something, it opens the door to an orc invasion. Maybe urbex should be more like a secret society that doesn't seek attention or share information with outsiders at all. To continue the Lord of the Rings analogy, maybe urbexers should operate more like the Rangers of the North. Seems like the only way to prevent all the social media hustlers, who no doubt scan sites like for places to exploit, from ruining the hobby.

That is essentially what this site is supposed to be. Unlike social media platforms, it's small-scale, user-run, and trust-based.

The LDB, even if it's not fully utilised anymore, is only accessible to full members. Of course, over time as the membership grew, there have been leaks, some of which were taken care of and others which probably weren't.

By the way, one additional thing I'd like to add when we're talking about the math involved in calculating whether a site's information can be shared online: after it's demolished, there's no more risk. Usually.

Posted by Shaddo I agree, but it calls into question the purpose of a site like this. Why share sites at all, if they run the risk of becoming over-exposed? Social media is like the Eye of Sauron: once it becomes aware of something, it opens the door to an orc invasion. Maybe urbex should be more like a secret society that doesn't seek attention or share information with outsiders at all. To continue the Lord of the Rings analogy, maybe urbexers should operate more like the Rangers of the North. Seems like the only way to prevent all the social media hustlers, who no doubt scan sites like for places to exploit, from ruining the hobby.

Man it's too late for that.

There is way too many people from the new generation or just assholes that are capable and good at finding spots and they will share them with the world to see or with everyone they know.

Word of mouth is the plague now.

People build entire maps by exchanging spots.

It's not rare to see someone doing a story on instagram like "will exchange spots for spots".

What you need to do is decide what you want from this hobby and just do it.
If you want to stay in the shadow, do that but you won't be able to stop the others.

I say that but i still try to "teach" the good behaviors to newcomers or people that do stupid things when i can but it's getting harder and harder because we are a dying breed and WE are the weirdos for trying to keep them "secret" now.

Posted by Cross- There's definitely a lot more people now than there were before. I feel like 10 to 15 years ago a spot could stay fairly pristine or untouched for years, even with explorers posting on it, before it went downhill. Now you're lucky to see something last beyond a year once it hits flavor of the month status. There was somewhat of a code to exploring that involved keeping places from being locked up or destroyed but there are way too many now that could care less for it to have as much of an impact as it used to. In fact you're openly mocked for having those standards. The only real way to keep something protected is to not post and, even then, you're hoping the thousands of others don't randomly wander upon it. Plus you're giving up the experience of sharing your art and what you found. So I would advise judging each location on its own. If it's something already well known, well, you can be a bit more free. If it's something that a few others have been and you want to slow down the rate of destruction, don't post outside, carefully go through each photo for any identifying clues, don't post it with other photos from the same area, maybe wait a while until posting, don't post on facebook pages where some random guy who lives next to it will feel the need to share the address, check each shot with google lens to see if it easily identifies it, etc. If it's something amazing, then just sit on it and hope any others that eventually find it have the same mentality as you. It can happen. I've seen some pretty amazing places stay pristine until they're either fixed up, restored, or converted into another use. It's a lot of work and can feel like a small drop in the ocean compared to the overall rush to instant gratification you'll see online. But, to me, it's worth sticking to my principals and preserving these spots for other responsible people to have the same experience. I feel like society needs for there to be ruins of the past to interact with and if we can contribute to them being untouched by graffiti, scrappers, thieves, or random destruction, it's worth the effort.

Good approach! From a great explorer. I hope she peeps take this advice.

Long time user but don't post my locations. I prefer to keep them as I found them. Not saying all explorers are necessarily destructive, but having a place visited by a handful vs 100s does its own damage. I do however appreciate the posts made here, but have little interest in visiting myself for various reasons. More publicly known places are one thing. I've been visiting the same place for 10yrs and only natural decay is observed.

My personal opinion on the matter is that very few things should be posted online. People who deserve to see them will find them, and people who deserve to get in will find their way in. If you want to share your photos, either wait till the place is gone, repurposed, or messed up/blown to where it wont matter. If you have people that you trust wont share the photos you post or blow the spots themselves, share them amongst them. People say "every spot gets blown at some point", and the truth is that some just don't. There are a few spots that I have seen that never got posted for years, and either got redeveloped or demolished with little to no vandalism. As a photographer you may feel inclined to share your work, but understanding that your work may just have to sit in the archives for a few years is not the end of the world. Some have a more flexible mindset, which I totally respect, but personally if I am posting something that is still standing publicly, it's gonna be a tough decision for me. Saw one too many spots get messed up, and had one too many property owners threaten me for my photos back when I did post stuff, just ain't worth it.